Apparatus for cooking cotton-seed meats.



Patented July 30, I90].

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APPARATUS FOR COOKING COTTON SEED HEATS.

(Application filed Mar. 7, 1001.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVALTER H. COOK, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

APPARATUS FOR COOKING COTTON-SEED MEATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 679,604, dated July 30,1901.

Application filed March 7, 1901.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER H. CooK, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State ofLouisiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forCooking Cotton-Seed Meats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide an improved and economicalapparatus for cooking cotton-seed meats in such manner as to obtain ahigher grade of products, avoid all danger of burning or scorching thematerial under treatment, and greatly lessen the expense by reason ofcooking at a lower temperature, as under a vacuum, and with constantstirring of the cotton-seed meats while in thin layers.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a sec tional elevation ofmyimproved apparatus for cooking cottonseed. Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a similarsection on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

The reference-numeral 15 designates a cylindrical upright casing whichis closed at both ends. In this casing there are a number of floors orhorizontal partitions 6, dividing the apparatus into a vertical seriesof cooking-compartments 7, arranged one above another. Each floor orpartition 6 has an opening 8, through which an upper compartmentcommunicates with the one next below. The openings 8 in the severalpartitions or fioors 6 are not in line with each other, but are locatedalternately in opposite sides of the apparatus, as shown. The uppercompartment 7 and the lower compartment 7 may each be of greater depththan the intermediate compartments. Beneath the fidor 6 of eachintermediate compartment 7and upper compartment 7 a there is a series ofsteamcoils 9, and beneath the lower compartment 7 there is preferably asteam jacket or chamber 10, or, if desired, any other suitable means maybe adopted for heating the several compartments of the cooker by steam.An exhaust-pipe 11 is extended from the upper compartment of the cookerto connect with an exhaust-pu'mp or other suitable appliance foreifecting and maintaining a vacuum in the several communicatingcompartments.

Serial No. 50,251. (No model.)

In one side of the upper compartment 7 ranged shield 12, Fig. 1, andbetween the lower edge of this shield and the adjacent wall of thecasing 5 there is arranged a pair of crushing-rolls 13, the shafts ofwhich are connected by gears 14:, Fig. 2, or otherwise in such manner asto rotate toward each other for crushing the material fed thereto anddropping it onto the floor of the upper cooking-compartment. The shaftof one of the crushing-rolls 13 may be provided with a pulley 15 forapplying power to drive said rolls.

A vertical rotary shaft 16 is extended through the several compartmentsof the cooker and may be-driven by power applied to a gear or pulley 17,located on said shaft below the casing or shell of the apparatus. Thisvertical rotary shaft 16 carries a number of sweeps or stirrers 18, asshown in the drawings, arranged just above the floor of each compartmentfor the purpose of agitating the material that is being cooked and tocarry it around in a thin layer to an opening 8, through which it willfall into the next lower compartment, and so on in a serpentinedirection from above downward through the several cooking-compartments,being meanwhile subjected to the action of steam heat applied in avacuum that is induced by a suitable exhaust appliance with which thepipe 11 connects.

The decorticated cotton-seed or meats enter the upper compartment of thecooker through an inlet 19, Fig. 1, which may connect with a hopper.This inlet 19 is located above the crushing-rolls 13 and is providedwith a valve 20 for controlling the feed. From the rolls 13 the crushedmaterial falls onto the .fioor of the upper compartment 7, whence it isgradually discharged by the sweeps or stirrers 18 through the opening 8into the next lower compartment 7, and so on through the severalcompartments of the cooker to the lowermost compartment 7 the serpentinemovement of the meats being kept up throughout the entire passagethrough the cooker. The lowermost compartment 7 shell 5 of the cooker.

is an upright screw conveyer 23, having a shaft 24, with pulley 25thereon, which is belted to a pulley 26 on the stirrer-shaft 16 andthrough which the said screw conveyor is driven. When the meats get down'into the compartment 7", they are pushed by the stirrers 18 into theconveyer 23, which passes the partly-cooked material up through thecasing 22 and dumps it over a spreaderapron 27, Figs. 1 and 2, onto thecrushing- 1'olls 13 to pass again through the cooker. When thecotton-seed meat is sufficientiy cooked, a valve 28 is opened in an exit29 leading from the lowermost cooking-compartment 7", and the cookedmaterial pushed by the stirrers 18 is thus allowed to drop into areceiver 30, having an exit 31, to which the cooked material is carriedby sweeps 32, mounted in said receiver on a vertical shaft 33, having apulley 34, that is belted to and driven from a pulley 35 on the shaft16. From the receiver 30 the crushed and cooked cotton-seed material iscarried through any of the processes usually employed in forming anoil-cake and expressing the oil.

In starting this cooking apparatus the valve 28 is closed, the stirrers18, conveyer 23, and crushing-rolls 13 are put in operation, and theinlet-valve 20 is opened and left open until a sufficient quantity ofmaterial has been introduced into the apparatus. At the same time steamis admitted to the steam-coils or steam-circulating passages. Then theinletvalve 20 is closed and the exhaust appliance connected with theexhaust-pipe 11 is put into action, withdrawing air from the cooker andcreating a vacuum in which the material is cooked to the best advantageat a lower temperature and with a minimum of steampressure. Onlyenoughmaterialisintroduced into the apparatus at one time to provide for athin layer of cotton-seed meats on each heated floor or horizontalpartition, and as the thin layers of meats are kept in constant motionfrom one cooking-compartment to the next one below they will be thusthoroughly cooked without any liability to burning, scorching, or otherinjury.

. Oookin g the cotton-seed meat under a vacuum and in thin layers at alow pressure in the manner described permits the ready and economicalproduction of a higher grade of oil, a higher grade of cake, andconsequently a higher grade of cotton-seed meal, and removes all dangerof burning any of the products.

With this apparatus the cotton-seed meats may be thoroughly cooked undera Vacuum while distributed in thin layers on the heated surfaces of theseveral cookingcompartments.

If desired, the exhaust-pipe 11 may be connected separately with each ofthe several cooking-compartments by a branch pipe 11 as indicated bydotted lines in Fig. 1, to provide more directly for inducing a vacuumin each compartment of the apparatus.

By cooking cotton-seed meats in a vacuum I am enabled to employ a verylow-temperaturethat is to say, I can employ a low steampressure, andconsequently cook at a low temperature, which does not deteriorate theoil and also prevents the formation of waterballs in the meats. Thesewater-balls, which would be otherwise formed by the water in the meats,are apt to accumulate rapidly and become larger and larger as the meatsare agitated. Again, a certain amount of hulls are usually mingled withthe meats, and these when subjected to a high temperature give out anobjectionable stain, which darkens the oil, as well as the meats, andthis is very objectionable when the meats are made into cakes. Bycooking in thin layers and under a vacuum the meats will cook at a lowertemperature and all staining will be avoided. By keeping the meats in astate of constant agitation during the cooking operation they can bethoroughly and rapidly cooked without any danger of burning or scorchingwhile in a thin stratain each cooking-compartment, and this also is agreat advantage.

The cooking of cotton -seed meats in a vacuum, drawing off the vapor asrapidly as formed, avoids the usual danger of deterioration in theproducts due to retention of moisture therein, and, besides, by thisprocess of cooking the products are of a much higher grade than usualand are much more economically obtained than by other processes. Thedegree of vacuum employed should be as strong as is necessary to enablethe cotton-seed meats to be cooked at as low a temperature asispossible. Although the amount of steam to be used would vary somewhat,according to the moisture contained in the seed, the tempearature shouldbe sufficient to effect athorough and rapid cooking of the thin layersof cotton-seed meats without danger of burning or scorching and withoutsubjecting the products to liability of stain or other injury. Thevacuum should be as perfect as practicable.

Cotton-seed when in its raw condition contains rosin-cells in thekernel, and in the preparation of the seed a certain percentage of hullsremains mixed with the-meats. When the seed is subjected to the actionof heat, these rosin-cells and the hulls give off a moisture whichdarkens the oil, meats, and meaLwhile being cooked and subsequentlycrushed. p This apparatus is not an oil-extractor. It gets thecotton-seed in the best condition preparatory to the extraction of theoil, which is usually done by subjecting the seed to a pressure afterbeing cooked.

There are at times certain amounts of volatile'oils which may be thrownoff in vapor form, due to the action of the heat, and these may berecovered by condensation or any other suitable method.

Prior to my invention cotton-seed has never been cooked in a vacuumpreparatory to being subjected to the action of pressure for the purposeof forcing out the oil from the cooked meats.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In an apparatus for cookingcotton-seed, a plurality of superposed chambers communicating directlywith each other, means for agitating the material while in said chambersand for causing its descent from an upper to a lower chamber, and aconveyer operable independently of the agitating means for carrying thematter from a lower to an upper chamber.

2. In an apparatus for cooking cotton-seed, a plurality of superposedcommunicating chambers, means for agitating material in said chambers,means independent of the agitating means for carrying the material fromone chamber to another, and means for creating a vacuum in saidchambers.

3. In an apparatus for cooking cotton-seed, a plurality of superposedcommunicating chambers, means for agitating the material in saidchambers, and a conveyer supported independently of the agitating meansto conduct the material from one chamber to another, said conveyer beinglocated outside said chambers.

4. In an apparatus for cooking cotton-seed, a plurality of superposedcommunicating compartments, means for agitating the material in saidcompartments, a screw conveyer, and a casing for said conveyer havingopenings communicating with at least two of said compartments.

5. In an apparatus for cooking cotton-seed, a plurality of communicatingcompartments, agitating means for the material, in the respectivecompartments, a conveyer to conduct material from one compartment toanother and crushing means to receive the material from said conveyer.

6. In an apparatus for cooking cotton-seed, a vacuum casing containing aplurality of superposed communicating compartments, means for agitatingthe material While in said compartments, and means for conveying thematerial from the lowest to the highest compartment.

7. In an apparatus for cooking cotton-seed, a plurality of superposedcommunicating compartments, means for agitating the material While insaid compartments, and a conveyer supported outside said compartmentsfor conducting material from one to another.

8. In an apparatus for cooking cotton-seed, a plurality of superposedcompartments the bottoms of which are slotted and the slots beingarranged in alternation, means for maintaining a vacuum in saidcompartments, a vertical shaft projecting through said bottoms havingagitating-arms, a conveyer parallel with said shaft for conductingmaterial from,

the lowest to the highest compartment, and seed-crushing means in theupper compartment.

9. In an apparatus for cooking cotton-seed, a plurality of steam-heated,vacuum-compartments, means for agitating the material in saidcompartments, and means independent of the agitating means forconducting the material from one compartment to another.

10. In an apparatus for cooking cotton-seed, a casing having a pluralityof partitions dividing the same into compartments, said partitionshaving openings for the passage of material from one compartment toanother, a shaft extending through said partitions, agitating devicesconnected to said shaft, an exhaust-pipe connected to one of thecompartments, and a conveyer to conduct the material from the lowermostto the uppermost compartments.

11. In an apparatus for cooking cotton-seed, a casing having a pluralityof partitions dividing the same into compartments, said partitionshaving openings for the passage of material from one compartment toanother, a shaft extending through said partitions, agitating devicesconnected to said shaft, an eX- haust-pipe connected to one of thecompartments, a conveyer to conduct the material from the lowermost tothe uppermost compartments, and crushing-rolls in the uppermostcompartment to receive the material from said conveyer.

12. In an apparatus for cooking cotton-seed, a plurality ofcommunicating steam-heated vacuum-compartments, means for agitating thematerial in the respective compartments, means to convey the materialfrom the last to the first compartment, the said last compartment havinga discharge-opening, and a receiver for the material adjacent saiddischarge-opening.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

\VALTER H. COOIL \Vitnesses:

ERNEST F. WESOHE, ANDRE LAFARGUE.

